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Davis Cup on the agenda for Tennis ACT

Canberra teenager Nick Kyrgios made his Davis Cup debut last week and Tennis ACT has ambitions to host Davis Cup matches from 2015.

Regular professional tennis is set to return to Canberra by the 2014-15 summer, with Tennis ACT poised to launch a new, annual Australian Pro Tour event.

The tournament will debut following the $20million redevelopment at the National Sports Club in Lyneham, due for completion in November 2014.

Canberra hasn’t hosted a regular professional tournament since 2006, when the Canberra Women’s Classic, formerly the Canberra International, went bust.

The women’s event had been an Australian Open preparation tournament between 2001-06 and boasted champions such as Justin Henin and Ana Ivanovic, who went on to become world No.1.

But it eventually became unsustainable due to a lack of sponsorship, crowds and support from Tennis Australia.

Work on the refurbished Lyneham tennis facility is due to start in November and will provide Canberra with a variety of international-standard tennis surfaces, including European clay and hardcourts – indoor and outdoor.

Tennis ACT chief executive Ross Triffitt said it would put Canberra in a strong position to bid for events such as Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties from 2015.

Triffitt also revealed he was in discussions with Tennis Australia, the ACT Government and private sponsors about setting up a new tournament.

The Canberra International could be announced as early as November and would be a mixed tournament, with a men’s and women’s draw.

‘‘The redevelopment of Lyneham will allow us to bring major international events back to Canberra,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘A marquee tennis event is very important for the growth of the sport … but people need to understand it won’t be an Australian Open series event with [Roger] Federer playing, it’s going to be an event that will feature top international players.

‘‘The Canberra Women’s Classic proved not to be sustainable in the long term, we’re looking for an event we can develop.

‘‘We want to pitch it at a sustainable level and then grow it rather than come in too big and too hard too early.

‘‘There has been a lot of thought about how that might evolve to link into the Asia Pacific Tennis League and the Australian Open series.’’

The Lyneham redevelopment is the centrepiece of Tennis ACT’s strategy to engage more interest in the sport, from elite to grassroots levels.

A $300,000 development has just been completed at North Woden tennis club, which will enable it to host Asia Pacific Tennis League matches this summer, involving the Canberra Velocity teams, headlined by Kyrgios.

North Woden will also be the site of an ACT-funded pilot program, enabling community players to make court bookings and provide easier access to facilities for recreational players.

Hirers would book and pay online and be given access to entry security codes.

The pilot is being monitored closely by Tennis Australia for the potential roll out across the country.

Registered players in the ACT are up almost 14 per cent this year and Triffitt said the ongoing challenge was having facilities available to meet demand.

‘‘This is really our pilot club for the potential direction of a lot of the community clubs, opening access to facilities through online booking,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘We’ve already got a lot of interest from other community clubs, so once we go through a proof of concept and iron out a lot of the bugs it will be ready to roll out at other facilities.’’

At one time tennis could have strongly claimed to be Australia’s national sport, but facilities have dwindled over the decades.

Plans to establish a multi-sport facility in the new Canberra suburb of Throsby, incorporating tennis, netball and squash, have been put on hold.

But Triffitt said Tennis ACT was working with ACT Government and private developers to establish more facilities in areas of need.

‘‘Gone are the days when they would establish a new suburb and put in a church and a tennis court,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘We’ve seen the growth in Gungahlin, prior to that South Tuggeranong and on the horizon Molonglo. These are the areas that are perfect participation bases for a sport like ours and we don’t have facilities in those areas.

‘‘The population is growing and the demand is growing, so we’ve got to find locations for the facilities. We’re working with a private sector as well.’’

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net.

Canberra teenager Nick Kyrgios made his Davis Cup debut last week and Tennis ACT has ambitions to host Davis Cup matches from 2015.

Regular professional tennis is set to return to Canberra by the 2014-15 summer, with Tennis ACT poised to launch a new, annual Australian Pro Tour event.

The tournament will debut following the $20million redevelopment at the National Sports Club in Lyneham, due for completion in November 2014.

Canberra hasn’t hosted a regular professional tournament since 2006, when the Canberra Women’s Classic, formerly the Canberra International, went bust.

The women’s event had been an Australian Open preparation tournament between 2001-06 and boasted champions such as Justin Henin and Ana Ivanovic, who went on to become world No.1.

But it eventually became unsustainable due to a lack of sponsorship, crowds and support from Tennis Australia.

Work on the refurbished Lyneham tennis facility is due to start in November and will provide Canberra with a variety of international-standard tennis surfaces, including European clay and hardcourts – indoor and outdoor.

Tennis ACT chief executive Ross Triffitt said it would put Canberra in a strong position to bid for events such as Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties from 2015.

Triffitt also revealed he was in discussions with Tennis Australia, the ACT Government and private sponsors about setting up a new tournament.

The Canberra International could be announced as early as November and would be a mixed tournament, with a men’s and women’s draw.

‘‘The redevelopment of Lyneham will allow us to bring major international events back to Canberra,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘A marquee tennis event is very important for the growth of the sport … but people need to understand it won’t be an Australian Open series event with [Roger] Federer playing, it’s going to be an event that will feature top international players.

‘‘The Canberra Women’s Classic proved not to be sustainable in the long term, we’re looking for an event we can develop.

‘‘We want to pitch it at a sustainable level and then grow it rather than come in too big and too hard too early.

‘‘There has been a lot of thought about how that might evolve to link into the Asia Pacific Tennis League and the Australian Open series.’’

The Lyneham redevelopment is the centrepiece of Tennis ACT’s strategy to engage more interest in the sport, from elite to grassroots levels.

A $300,000 development has just been completed at North Woden tennis club, which will enable it to host Asia Pacific Tennis League matches this summer, involving the Canberra Velocity teams, headlined by Kyrgios.

North Woden will also be the site of an ACT-funded pilot program, enabling community players to make court bookings and provide easier access to facilities for recreational players.

Hirers would book and pay online and be given access to entry security codes.

The pilot is being monitored closely by Tennis Australia for the potential roll out across the country.

Registered players in the ACT are up almost 14 per cent this year and Triffitt said the ongoing challenge was having facilities available to meet demand.

‘‘This is really our pilot club for the potential direction of a lot of the community clubs, opening access to facilities through online booking,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘We’ve already got a lot of interest from other community clubs, so once we go through a proof of concept and iron out a lot of the bugs it will be ready to roll out at other facilities.’’

At one time tennis could have strongly claimed to be Australia’s national sport, but facilities have dwindled over the decades.

Plans to establish a multi-sport facility in the new Canberra suburb of Throsby, incorporating tennis, netball and squash, have been put on hold.

But Triffitt said Tennis ACT was working with ACT Government and private developers to establish more facilities in areas of need.

‘‘Gone are the days when they would establish a new suburb and put in a church and a tennis court,’’ Triffitt said.

‘‘We’ve seen the growth in Gungahlin, prior to that South Tuggeranong and on the horizon Molonglo. These are the areas that are perfect participation bases for a sport like ours and we don’t have facilities in those areas.

‘‘The population is growing and the demand is growing, so we’ve got to find locations for the facilities. We’re working with a private sector as well.’’

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net.